Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. ~ Virginia Woolf

Thankfully Reading Weekend: Mini-Challenge #1

November 26, 2010

Jenn (from Jenn’s Bookshelves) is hosting the first mini-challenge of the Thankfully Reading Weekend!

Here’s her prompt:

Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for the things we have. So, for the first Thankfully Reading Weekend, write a post about the book you are most thankful for. This could be a book released this year or twenty years ago. Your post should include why you are thankful for that book.

Many of us answered this, in some form, on Thanksgiving day (my answer) but I think this is more specific.

I think, looking back, I’m am the most thankful for Herman Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund for reasons that escape me.

I know that’s a bit of a cop out; I just love it for itself! If I were pressed for a less abstract love letter, I’d say something about how it’s beautifully written and such an amazing blend of Eastern and Western philosophies. Hesse’s books often work on this theme, linking Existentialism and Buddhism and while they (Steppenwolf, The Glass Bead Game and others) expand on similar ideas, I think Narcissus and Golmund is, for me, his best.

I’m thankful for it because I love the concepts brought together through experience, meditation and, of course, fantastic writing. In college, Hesse’s books made me feel like I had found someone who understood me and someone who “got” it.

Hmm, well, you caught me. I guess, there are concrete reasons for listing his work!

What a wonderful question for this mini-challenge! I’m seeing so many books I’ve either never heard of or haven’t made my way to yet. I’ve not read any Hesse, but it sounds like I must! Thanks for sharing.